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Tuesday, 15 November 2016

DEATH IN NIPER POOL; Kin allege police inaction, want CBI inquiry

Mohali, November 14 Tribune News Service

Around two months after a 40-year-old man drowned in a swimming pool at
the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)
at Sector 67 here, family members of the deceased alleged police
inaction in the case. They also demanded that the NIPER authorities
should also be made a party in the case.
Saroj Bagga, wife of the deceased Sunil Bagga, alleged that after two
months of the incident, there was no development in the case.
“The accused are roaming free and nothing has been done against the NIPER authorities in this regard,” said Saroj.
She alleged that her husband had drowned due to sheer negligence and improper infrastructure at the pool.
Sunil Bagga, a manager with Ola Cabs and a resident of Phase XI, had
drowned in the pool on September 11 when he went there, along with his
six-year-old son, Ishit, for swimming.
The police had booked two persons, Davinder Lamba, a Delhi-based
contractor, who has been given the pool on a contract basis and his
manager-cum-trainer, Rajiv, under Section 304A of the IPC (death due to
negligence) at the Phase XI Police Station, here on the complaint of
Saroj Bagga.
The police claimed that they had recorded the statements of the
contractor’s staff and other authorities concerned at the NIPER. The
deceased’s viscera report is still be awaited.
Wing Commander PJP Singh Waraich (retd), registrar at NIPER, said the pool had been closed since the incident occurred.
“The police have recorded our statements. As per the clause of the
contract, the entire responsibility of the pool is lying with the
contractor,” said the Registrar.
The family also demanded CBI inquiry into the case.

PRESS
BRIEFING 14th Nov 2016, Mohali

REGARDING
SUNIL BAGGA (DECEASED NIPER SWIMMING POOL 11-SEP-2016)

The press conference has been
called for drawing attention of relevant authorities on the incident happened
at NIPER swimming pool on 11th Sep 2016.

To refresh our memories – My
husband Mr. Sunil Baggadied via drowning at NIPER swimming pool at 815 AM
Sunday 11th Sep 2016. His post mortem report confirmed death by
drowning. We blame the authorities including NIPER Management and NIPER pool contractor
are to be held responsible for the unfortunate incident.The same has been
mentioned in the FIR.

As per eye-witnesses and
people who brought him to the hospital

There were absolutely no
life-saving arrangements at the swimming pool

Swimming pool attendants
responded very late to the calls for help. Nobody seemed to be trained on life
saving techniques.

Ishat (6-Year old son), who
was with Sunil at the time of incident, created some noise desperately but no
prompt help was provided.

There was no administration of
CPR at the pool which could have saved Sunil’s life

There was no vehicle available
at the pool to transport Sunil to the nearby hospital. Sunil was moved to the
hospital in a member’s car.

This whole process took more
than half an hour and by the time Sunil reached Silver Oaks hospital (which is
less than 1 km from NIPER) was dead.

Immediately after the
incident, the NIPER pool staff was busy filling up the oxygen cylinders
(Photographs available).

We would like to comment on
the investigation aspect of this case –

Today is 14th Nov.
More than 60 days have passed. Not even a single person from Police or NIPER has
come to meet us to take our statements or offer help of any kind. What kind of
an investigation is this wherein the key witnesses and people are not even
asked once about the incident?

We named NIPER management in
the statement but only contractors are mentioned in the accused category. We
demand NIPER management to be made party to the accused as they fail to enforce
or audit the terms and conditions of the contract with the contractor.

We checked with all the other
eye-witnesses at the time of incident, no one has been quizzed by Police as
yet.

NIPER is such a reputed
institution of the country. They get paid through the taxes we deposit. Don’t
they have any humanitarian ground to come and talk to us and offer condolences
at a minimum.

Even after the incident, NIPER
contractor was willing to reopen the pool after two days. It was only after the
citizen’s protest that the pool couldn’t open.

As a result of this incident, our
lives are shattered.

We have no source of income at
this point of time

We don’t have very strong
financial background

We have to shift house as we
can’t afford the rent anymore

Father-in-law has gone through
a major surgery few months back

Children education is
suffering as there’s no one to take responsibility and they may not be able to
continue.

Through some very reliable
sources, we have come to understand the following –

NIPER residents and other
regular members have complained to the pool authorities about the safety
aspects time to time but to no avail.

A letter was issued by Chief
Security office to the pool contractor on 03rd June 2015 about following
terms of the contract clearly mentioning concerns about safety/security
aspects, additional construction, tampering with the meters, deposit of the
money etc.

One member,Mr. KapilDev Sharma,
wrote an email to the NIPER authorities on 09th October 2015 complaining
about the dirty water. A comprehensive report was subsequently filed by Chief
Maintenance Engineer on investigation. The report clearly mentioned violation
of almost all key terms of the contract by the contractor as asked in the
letter mentioned above on 03rd June.

It was also suggested by CME that
contract should to be terminated if contractor is not following the terms. Contrary
to CME suggestion, Pool’s contract was actually renewed for 2016 as well.
Situation remain the same in current season too.

It will be pertinent to
mention that immediately after the incident, pool staff was shown filling up
the oxygen cylinders – photo was duly published in media on 12th
Sep.

We’re in possession of another
NIPER internal reportwhich hints that NIPER management seems to believe everything
is fine at the swimming pool and hinting that pool should not be held
responsible for Sunil’s death.

We have talked with many
people who have enrolled for the pool but don’t use it for fear of lack of
safety options and other health hazards.

Given the evidence we have and
our personal experiences, I have little faith that investigation will be done
properly in the current context. There seems to be deliberate attempt to let
this incident fade away and evidences get diluted.

Common citizen lives matter.
If a death and shattered lives can’t be enough for the NIPER and police
authorities then what will? I just wonder. NIPER gets its funds from the tax we
pay to the government – right? Somebody dies in NIPER campus and they seem to be
siding with the accused party for which sufficient evidence exist of
malpractices. How many deaths it will take for the NIPER management for wake
up. I want CBI enquiry into it.